1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an actuator and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Related Art
In recent years, the need for small actuators has risen in medical fields, micromachine fields, and the like.
There is demand for these small actuators to be compact as well as be driven with a low voltage. Various attempts have been made to achieve a reduction in voltage (e.g., see JP-A-9-79129).
Known small actuators mainly use an ion-exchange membrane, which is a material that contracts and swells due to ion movement.
These actuators have the problem that, when the thickness of the ion-exchange membrane is increased in order to increase the amount of displacement, high-speed response cannot be obtained since the operation thereof is controlled by the ion diffusion rate.